Scratch-built card and styrene structures (based on real buildings around London Bridge)

[grahame]

A clean sweep?

 

I'm not sure where to post this but for a bit of fun I've made a road sweeper's hand cart out of plasticard and wire. The figure is a Farish one (with a pneumatic drill cut away - doesn't he have thick forearms?). Just a little tidying up, touch of paint and the addition of Triggers broom and shovel to finish it off. And hopefully it's period enough:

 

 

G

 

 

[grahame]

Trigger's broom is now assembled - the 18th head and 15th handle:

 

 

Just need a shovel. But for some inspirational road sweeper hand cart action check out this video (3min25secs in):  

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIgORp3Rvuc&ved=2ahUKEwiU8a-u2YzkAhWDLFAKHfLEAyEQo7QBMAB6BAgAEAI&usg=AOvVaw01aOdLUNlXp9-BZwqFWxV0

 

They all seem to have two brooms - a wide head one and a shorter head one. Perhaps I need to make another.

 

G

Edited August 20, 2019 by grahame

[millerhillboy]

Crazy that's n gauge, looks great

[Paul Eng]

hi Everyone

Just joined

Does any one remember the name of the scratch building system from the 80s which allowed  you build building a row of bricks at a time bricks had holes in them them that small diameter plastic rods went through to hold layers in alignment ?

You could do english bond and flemish bond by using different bricks

I suspect company making system went bust in the 80s

 

[grahame]

45 minutes ago, Paul Eng said:

hi Everyone

Just joined

Does any one remember the name of the scratch building system from the 80s which allowed  you build building a row of bricks at a time bricks had holes in them them that small diameter plastic rods went through to hold layers in alignment ?

You could do english bond and flemish bond by using different bricks

I suspect company making system went bust in the 80s

 

 

I remember a building system from the 60s (possibly earlier) which used metal rods you pushed in to holes in a base then slid down pre-formed various sections of brickwork between the vertical rods. It was a kind of re-use building toy that I played with as a young lad.

 

There was also another building system called Betta-bilda (from Airfix) that was like Lego, only better IMO.

 

G

Edited August 22, 2019 by grahame

[grahame]

13 minutes ago, grahame said:

 

I remember a building system from the 60s (possibly earlier) which used metal rods you pushed in to holes in a base then slid down pre-formed various sections of brickwork between the vertical rods. It was a kind of re-use building toy that I played with as a young lad.

 

There was also another building system called Betta-bilda (from Airfix) that was like Lego, only better IMO.

 

Just Googled and found it. The first system was called Bayko Building Sets. Looks like it started in the 1930s and was taken over by Meccano in 1959:

 

http://www.bayko.org.uk/index.html?http://www.bayko.org.uk/Sets and Contents/Set Price History.htm&mainFrame

Pic here: https://garrulousgwendoline.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/opening-the-bayko-set-after-many-years-october-2015-7.jpg

 

Apparently Betta Bilda started in 1961/2.

 

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Betta_Bilda

Pic here: http://p2.la-img.com/252/8996/1757749_1_l.jpg

 

Both are available on sites like ebay.

 

G

[steam-driven boy]

1 hour ago, Paul Eng said:

hi Everyone

Just joined

Does any one remember the name of the scratch building system from the 80s which allowed  you build building a row of bricks at a time bricks had holes in them them that small diameter plastic rods went through to hold layers in alignment ?

You could do english bond and flemish bond by using different bricks

I suspect company making system went bust in the 80s

 

Hi Paul,

The name K&L popped into my head, I remember a number of articles and ads for individual bricks and sections in the model railway press at the time.  A quick Google lead me to:

http://www.modelrailwayjournal.com/index.php?s=components&t=tags

Quote

Bricklaying in 4mm scale

Shirley Rowe

Issue 4 (1985) 

p.157

4mm

The first individual bricking system for 4mm scale caused a minor sensation when it was issued two years ago under the Formcraft label. Since then the system has been enlarged and refined, but the Formcraft name has gone, manufacture is in the hands of K. and L. Newman - Len Newman being one of the originating engineers - and marketing is the sole province of Alan Gibson, from whom the product now takes its name. Shirley Rowe has been experimenting since the earliest days, and her review of the Gibson Bricklaying System is, coincidentally, a potted history of its public development.

Modular system for modelling brick walls for buildings.

I no longer have my copy for that issue but I'll see if I can dig out anything more from my other old mags of the time after some much needed sleep!

 

Regards, Gerry.

[t-b-g]

I remember Formcraft well. A friend purchased a "kit" for a bus stop and put it together. We nearly died laughing, it was so out of square. The poor chap never recovered and eventually left the country..........

 

A quick search on Formcraft will bring up plenty of info.

[monkeysarefun]

34 minutes ago, grahame said:

 

Just Googled and found it. The first system was called Bayko Building Sets. Looks like it started in the 1930s and was taken over by Meccano in 1959:

 

http://www.bayko.org.uk/index.html?http://www.bayko.org.uk/Sets and Contents/Set Price History.htm&mainFrame

Pic here: https://garrulousgwendoline.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/opening-the-bayko-set-after-many-years-october-2015-7.jpg

 

Apparently Betta Bilda started in 1961/2.

 

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Betta_Bilda

Pic here: http://p2.la-img.com/252/8996/1757749_1_l.jpg

 

Both are available on sites like ebay.

 

G

 

I remember a lego style building set from my childhood where all the bricks were white. Looks like it was Betta Bilda - thanks for the link up until now I'd always wondered what it was.

 

  Your brighton Toy Museum link also allowed me to discover another vaguely remembered item  from my childhood that  I can vaguely remember but again I'd had no idea what is was until now - A set consisting of plastic garden bed style bases that you pushed plastic plants into, along with model gardenning tools, greenhouses etc. I'd always recalled it as "Garden of pegs" or something but maybe thats just what my brother and I called it because I'd never found anything with a name like that on my searches, but I just found a link to what it was:

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Britains_Floral_Garden

 

Nowadays all these would be replaced with a Minecraft app or similar.

 

[grahame]

Here's a pic of Battlebridge House that I've not posted here before. It's only a little bit of progress (over that in previous pics) with the completion and installation of the ground floor sections of windows and entrances:

 

 

One of the next stages to undertake is the making and adding of window frames and glazing for the rest of the building - and there's quite a few windows. The frames look black (or dark grey) in the best (B&W) photo I have of it, so I'm aiming to try and draw up the artwork and have it printed out on clear acetate sheet. But in the meantime I need to tone down and weather the rather bright white paintwork.

 

G
 

 

 

[grahame]

Having been away for a few days (around Hampshire including Portchester castle/fort, Bishops Waltham palace and Winchester cathedral) I've undertaken very little modelling. However, today I've mixed up a brownish grey wash and used it to tone down the white on Battlebridge House. I kept it very thin and applied a few coats to gradually alter the paintwork.

[phil_sutters]

On 22/08/2019 at 23:12, grahame said:

 

Just Googled and found it. The first system was called Bayko Building Sets. Looks like it started in the 1930s and was taken over by Meccano in 1959:

 

http://www.bayko.org.uk/index.html?http://www.bayko.org.uk/Sets and Contents/Set Price History.htm&mainFrame

Pic here: https://garrulousgwendoline.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/opening-the-bayko-set-after-many-years-october-2015-7.jpg

 

Apparently Betta Bilda started in 1961/2.

 

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Betta_Bilda

Pic here: http://p2.la-img.com/252/8996/1757749_1_l.jpg

 

Both are available on sites like ebay.

 

G

You can see parts of Brighton Toy & Model Museum's display of  model building systems in this photo collage. Although I have taken my grandchildren there I think it is much more of a nostalgia fest for old codgers like me!

[grahame]

I've just found a great pic of the Tooley Street area taken in 1980. I've cropped it down to the area I'm interested in and in it is a decent view of battlebridge House (model pic a few posts back).

 

I've labelled some of the buildings which I've already made. The light green circled ones are those I still need to build. The one on the left has gone (demolished) and the other I'm not sure about so I need to do some research about them both. I've noticed a few things I've got wrong (or rather they've changed since the photo) but I'm not sure I'll bother with changing them. The majority is pretty much spot on allowing for compression and compromises.

 

 

[grahame]

I've noticed in the pic above what looks to be a large pre-fabricated wooden workman's hut in the building site I've made. It's got a grey roof and cream walls. As there's room for it on my model I decided to quickly make one out of plasticard and see how it sits. Here's the various stages:

 

 

 

 

 

As it will be mostly hidden from view I've not added lots of windows and details, especially on the sides that won't be able to be seen. I just now need to slap some paint on and fit a door and window.

[grahame]

I little paint now slapped on it and messed around a bit. Probably the only bit of it that will be able to be seen is the end with the window.

 

 

 

[Marly51]

I’ve been modelling in paper and card mainly since returning to modelling, Grahame, but just found my old stock  of miscellaneous Plastikard in the attic. Very inspired by your lovely work, so might have a go at a small project to compare a card model with a Plastikard version. 

[grahame]

I tend to use both cardboard and plasticard for my buildings and often mix both on one model, although I used all plasticard for the hut for speed and simplicity. But I was left wondering if it would have been better to have used a suitable textured cardboard for the roof to more resemble the felt covering. Still, it will be mostly hidden from view and it's made now.

Edited October 10, 2019 by grahame
Half typed message disappeared on posting

[grahame]

Tomorrow (Saturday 12th) and Sunday I'll be at the Farnham & District MRC exhibition in Aldershot with some of the model buildings from this thread. I'm not demonstrating, it'll be a kind of display, but I'll be around to talk about how they were made and the techniques I've used.

 

For details see here: http://farnhammrc.org.uk/?page_id=158 and here: http://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/events/19391-FarnhamandDistrictModelRailwayClubExhibition and here for a list of the layouts attending: http://farnhammrc.org.uk/?page_id=102

 

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by grahame
Link added

[grahame]

I've not posted to this thread for a while as my modelling recently has been about things other than making card structures such as completing a 3D printed diesel brake tender, experimenting with the perspective control on the retouch menu of my camera (to make the uprights vertical and not flare out or in on photographs) and upgrading/detailing some old Farish generic 4-wheel coaches:

 

 

However, I have mocked up temporary view looking north up Borough High Street towards London Bridge using some of the buildings I've made to get an idea of how it will look. The roads, pavement and bridge are just rectangles of grey card. The vast majority of the buildings are incomplete and some aspects are only temporary card place-holders. There are structures to be straightened up and final positions established, as well details added.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2019 by grahame
Changed photo

[grahame]

I've found these pics of what it should look like (although they're probably not old enough) which are quite encouraging. But it shows that there's still plenty of detail to add as well as grubbying down the whole scene (and layout - when it gets built);

 

 

[Siberian Snooper]

Apart from the change of vehicles and shop owners,  I don't think there was much real change until work started on remodelling the station,  which changed the looks of some of the buildings to accommodate the new rail bridge.

 

 

[grahame]

20 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

Apart from the change of vehicles and shop owners,  I don't think there was much real change until work started on remodelling the station,  which changed the looks of some of the buildings to accommodate the new rail bridge.

 

 

 

Yes. To put in the second bridge they knocked down this row of shops:

 

 

And replaced it with this shorter glass house:

 

 

and they knocked down this block:

 

 

and replaced it with a modern uninspiring block set further back.

 

I've now got the full depth of the layout (at it's widest point/end) worked out with the north/south road finalised although not complete. I managed to keep it under the max of 3'6" I planned for it. It needs to be quite wide to accommodate the through and terminus station which are just east of it. However it will taper down towards the other end. In the pic below north is to the left with the abrupt end of the road being the start of London Bridge itself. The railway cuts across the road at an angle where the road surface changes shade in the pic. 

 

The difficult bit was working out all the complex slopes that exist (no large area is billiard table/baseboard flat), but hopefully I think I've got them suitably incorporated. Basically the road rises from front to back (right to left in the pic below) to go over the Thames with lots of other slopes leading off either up to London Bridge station or down to Tooley Street.

 

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

And an aerial view with some of the buildings temporarily placed in their locations. It's still a bit messy and with plenty to do, but I'm quite pleased that at least this section is starting to look like a real cityscape: 

 

[grahame]

Another aerial view, this time of a group of building that I've put together to make sure that they fitted a specifically sized area allocated for them. The problem is that each building was made individually at different times and with various elements of compression and simplification. But I'm getting there (as BR used to say) . . . .  

 

[grahame]

I'm still plugging away with roads and building positioning. On the other side of the road (left side in the pic above) will be this model for which the real building it is based on can be seen several posts previously. I've added some road markings and cut the pavement although this won't be fixed in place until the building is finished and it is firstly glued to the underside of the building.